woodsaint1

Palace still had plenty of PL experience in Kouyate and Dann to provide cover for them. Not sure if Sheff United have any genuine PL CB cover left with Jagielka, O'Connell, Egan and Basham all missing. Looking like it could be Kean Bryan and Ethan Ampadu at CB in an unfamiliar back four. We wont get a better opportunity to return to both winning and goalscoring ways 🤞🏼

Be great to have him back, he's obviously an important cog for us both defensively and offensively. That being said, it speaks volumes about the lack of depth/resilience in our team and the rigidness of Ralphs system, that we cant cope without KWP for a stretch of games. He's a good player dont get me wrong, but hes no world beater and only a full back. Shows how crucial it is we bring in decent cover in the summer.

In terms of positions we need and being realistic, I can think of two Matheus Pereira. Could be the Tadic type no10 we've been crying out for. Darnell Furlong - Would give great competition for KWP at RB. Similar player who provides a good attacking threat.

If we only get 8 points from our remaining 12 games then Ralph has to go!! We've given him the benefit of the doubt with the injuries/decisions/luck etc but that would be a grand total of 15 points from our last 26 games (78 points) of the season. Thats indefensible. To me Ralph needs a run similar to how we finished last season - reach mid 40s points wise and an FA Cup semi would be the minimum to rescue this season

What plan? If you had offered me that their only remaining fit CB was to be sent off, but they would win the game (which matters little anyways), I would have taken that all day

Hes undoubtedly better than Long and hes better than Obafemi. If you cant see that then I dont know what you've been watching. Yes hes frustrating at times but thats why hes at Southampton. We definitely need somebody to compete with him for second striker alongside Ings (or whoever his replacement will be). N'Lundulu just doesnt excite me at all

Rate him or realising they dont have the money to bring in a decent understudy to KWP that its now a case of "he'll have to do". I guess its somewhere in the middle. Remember we recently gave a contract extension to Shane bloody Long

Do people not remember the Shrewsbury game about 2 months ago. Standing out as the worst player on the pitch when it was made up of kids and league 1 players was some feat. Hes done. Would take him doing well for Boremuff so we can get a fee out of them or somebody else

Last 10 minutes maybe. Too little too late. 89th minute before we actually test the keeper lol. Everton wont have an easier 1-0 win than that. They didnt even have to be any good to beat us. For the amount of free kicks and corner kicks we had, cant remember us winning one cross Armstrong absolutely superb, Forster didnt do anything wrong, JWP and Vestergaard did well. Everyone else - pure pish

Literally cant believe our free kick setup. Zonal marking the 18 yard line it appears. You have to compete and make it difficult for the opposition, not hope for some luck. If Everton could time their runs better it would game over.

Where Ralph has failed and he has now acknowledged, is the preference of a small squad. This combined with the inability to bring in cover at full back in the summer and January has been badly exposed. Relying on two senior full backs in the PL is nothing short of a shambles. Just taking the clubs below us in the table for senior full back options - Burnley - Lowton, Bardsley, Taylor, Pieters, Long Brighton - Lamptey, Veltman, Burn, March, Karbownik Newcastle - Krafth, Lewis, Dummett, Manquillo, Ritchie Fulham - Aina, Tete, Robinson, Odoi, Adarabioyo, Bryan West Brom - Furlong, Gibbs, Townsend, Ivanovic, Peltier, Maitland-Niles Sheff Utd - Baldock, Stevens, Bogle, Robinson, Lowe Its clear Valery and Vokins dont have a future here, so new full back options for both sides will be needed in the summer. No more of this square pegs in round holes please

Was going to say the same 🤦🏽‍♂️ or a Billy Sharp winner. If we lose to Sheff Utd next week then I will definitely begin to worry. They are completely devoid of confidence, struggle to score goals, have an injury crisis at the back with the likes of Egan, O'Connell and Basham all injured. They have Jagielka playing for god sake. Sander Berge is a loss for them too. They also play Wednesday night and then again against us on Saturday. We will have a few days extra rest/preparation. In fact let me change that. If we dont win against Sheff Utd then I will begin to worry for us.

Our weak mentality and having a team of 'losers' as some have said on here wont be helped by a keeper who has suffered back to back relegations. Has bright moments like most keepers, but is still bang average

40/1 on most sites I'm looking at. But to be honest odds flucuate based on bets placed, so its likely come down from 80/1 purely due to the bets placed by some strange folk on here. Very odd behaviour to bet against the team you support. It must be so the usual 'I told you so' brigade can have something else to talk about

I've said the exact same on another thread. We're lucky if we get 1 every other year who is good enough to make it at PL level. You're hardly going to know that though if you're putting square pegs in round holes as opposed to giving them a chance. Jankewitz should be given the chance tomorrow, not Stephens

Would be another ringing endorsement for our prestigious academy if Stephens was preferred in CM ahead of Jankewitz. We've already had CMs and CBs preferred at RB ahead of Valery and happy to get by with one senior LB instead of keeping Vokins as backup. Long was also preferred ahead of N'Lundulu and Obafemi for most games. Not to mention the list of other academy products out on loan when we're on record saying that we dont believe in the loan system It makes you question the point of the academy if all we're doing is feeding lower league clubs for nominal fees (if any fee at all). If they're not good enough to be given a chance then our academy needs a serious overhaul

Going to another teams forum and setting up an account for team news 😂😂 has teletext not reached merseyside yet. Simpleton

Cant argue with any of this. I personally felt that Puel deserved another season to at least try and build his own team. In his defence also, we missed VVD for most of the second half of that season, but he made us hard to beat with Stephens and Yoshida at CB (a feat in itself). Ultimately, this led to a bland style of football which the fans and then the owners became impatient with. Anybody who lumps him in with Pellegrino and Hughes should seek help. I think we'll win another handful of games before the seasons end and finish 11-14th which given where we were in December is very disappointing. However, it was probably where i seen us finishing at the start of the season. I honestly believe that Ralph can take us to 8-10th next season if hes backed and we finally move beyond some of the bad transfer business which has held us back in recent years. However, he also needs to adapt his style of play as two 9-0 defeats is unacceptable for any club, let alone a PL one, and our team confidence at times has looked shaky to say the least.

Honestly believe that if we dont find a new owner by the summer then relegation is a strong possibility next season. With Gao wanting to sell (and get as good a price as he can), we will likely see little to no investment in the summer window (hence the reference that we're looking to take advantage of the free transfer market). Also no guarantee that money from any sales will be equally reinvested. You cant stand still in this league for too long and hope to be ok. That being said, if our owners try and push through a sale without conducting due diligence on prospective parties, we could end up with some joker like DaGrosa or be saddled with large debt like Burnleys recent takeover. Among the 5 parties interested, there surely must be one who genuinely wants to invest and push the club forward 🙏🏼

We have been poor for the majority of the last 5 years I agree, but I'd rather rate Ralph and his team on their own merits (this season and last) and not that of his predecessors Pellegrino and Hughes who were at the helm during that period

Although McCarthy made some good saves against Leeds, he was also suspect for the 1st and 3rd goals. He has also been on the receiving end of conceding alot of goals recently. I would take him out of the firing line and put Forster in. Hes kept clean sheets and deserves a chance. Still think we've no other option but to persist with Bednarek at RB. Would bring Djenepo back in to offer that defensive protection. Unless Diallo makes an unexpected return, it will have to be Jankewitz in CM. The kid will want to prove a point, so why not give him a chance. Would rather him play this game where we're not expected to win, than be thrust into a 'must win' game against Sheff Utd next week. Ings, Minamino and Armstrong all need to start. Attacking-wise we've been poor of late so we need our best attacking options on the pitch. Forster Bednarek Vest Salisu Bertrand Djenepo JWP Jank Armstrong Ings Minamino

There's no denying how pish we were in 2018 and 2019, but to say our PL form post lockdown last year was temporary is a bit ridiculous - 12 wins, 8 draws and 5 losses (44 points from 75, just shy of 1.8 points per game). Sustaining that over 25 games isnt 'form', its the sign of a good team. Likewise, although our 2021 form is very poor - 1 win, 1 draw and 7 defeats (4 points from 27, 0.44 points per game), I would need to see this run of 'form' sustained over 25 games - to the end of season for example (averaging under 1.1 points per game or relegation form) before I would agree that we've returned to our 2018/19/early 20 levels

Interesting spot and no doubt a big factor on us. However, it shouldnt come as a surprise to Ralph that there are plenty of midweek games during a PL season and we therefore need a sustainable system/style of play to be able to deal with that (because we will never have the luxury of a big, quality squad to rely on). If we have any ambitions to play european football again then the games will come even quicker

Never know. Fulham hadnt beat Everton at Goodison in forever before winning there the other week. That being said, Fulham are a much better outfit than we are right now and Everton will be riding high after the derby win. Would take a draw all day. One thing which is becoming clear, Sheff Utd the following week is looking like a must win. They're an awful side with countless defensive injuries and relying on Sharp/McGoldrick/McBurnie for goals. No doubt we'll find a way of making them look good though

Ive been fully supportive of Ralph, but there comes a time when blaming Gao, Les Reed, Dave Watson, injuries, VAR, Ian Branfoot or whoever else for our current problems wears thin. The blame rests with Ralph right now. He took this team to the top league and the praise deservedly flowed in. However, hes now taken this same team on a run of 1 point from 24 and must equally face the criticism. Its simply not good enough. In a matter of weeks we could be out of FA Cup and within touching distance of the relegation zone - who would have thought that at Xmas